Washington: US President Donald Trump has honoured six of America's leading technology pioneers, including Indian-origin Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, with the country's highest awards for scientific achievement and technological innovation, describing their contributions as central to America's global leadership.
At the New Golden Age Summit on Thursday, Trump presented the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Nadella and Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell.
Elon Musk, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and AMD CEO Lisa Su received the National Medal of Science.
The ceremony brought together some of the most influential figures in artificial intelligence, semiconductor technology, cloud computing and space exploration.
Trump praises Nadella's leadership at Microsoft
Trump singled out Nadella for transforming Microsoft into a global technology powerhouse and positioning the company at the forefront of artificial intelligence.
"For more than three decades, Satya Nadella has been a key figure in the transformation of Microsoft," the US President said.
Trump credited Nadella with developing Microsoft's cloud computing capabilities and expanding its reach among businesses, students and consumers worldwide.
"Then he (Satya Nadella) had the vision to make Microsoft an early leader in super intelligence," the US President said.
"Satya, we are honoured to give you the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. It is so well deserved. Congratulations, Satya," Trump added.
The award citation recognised Nadella's leadership in revitalising Microsoft for the cloud computing era and building infrastructure capable of supporting the development and global deployment of advanced artificial intelligence.
Musk honoured for space exploration
Trump also praised Musk's achievements in space exploration, electric vehicles and satellite communications.
"Elon is our modern-day Thomas Edison," Trump said, describing the SpaceX founder as a national treasure.
He highlighted SpaceX's reusable rockets, Starlink satellite network and efforts to advance space exploration.
Brin, Huang and Su recognised
Google co-founder Sergey Brin was recognised for developing algorithms that transformed how people access information.
Trump said Brin had returned to Google to personally drive progress in superintelligence.
Nvidia's Jensen Huang received recognition for advancing graphics processing technology that now powers much of the world's artificial intelligence infrastructure.
"The entire world is now running on Nvidia," Trump added.
AMD's Lisa Su was honoured for her contributions to semiconductor engineering and high-performance computing.
Michael Dell received the technology and innovation medal for helping make personal computers widely accessible and building a global technology company.
Trump outlines US scientific priorities
The US President also outlined his administration's scientific priorities, including quantum computing, nuclear energy, artificial intelligence and space exploration.
He said the United States was working towards developing a quantum computer for scientific discovery by 2028.
Trump also referred to the Genesis mission and a White House accord on superintelligence aimed at maintaining American technological leadership.
The National Medal of Science recognises outstanding contributions to scientific knowledge, while the National Medal of Technology and Innovation honours achievements that strengthen technological progress and innovation in the United States.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
